System and method for authorizing third-party transactions for an account at a financial institution on behalf of the account holder

ABSTRACT

System and method for authorizing third-party transactions for an account at a financial institution on behalf of the account holder. A financial institution can collect process, transmit and confirm authorizations to third parties for electronic payments and direct deposits on behalf of its account-holder customer. In at least some embodiments, a method of processing account-holder requests to authorize third-party transactions for an account includes the establishment of a pre-existing list of prospective third-party participants such as employers and billers. The financial institution receives account-holder requests to authorize third-party transactions. Specific requests from among the account-holder requests are matched to third-party participants and forwarded and can be confirmed. The system of the invention can include various engines and data repositories that work together to provide the means for implementing embodiments of the invention.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Automatic drafts or debits, and direct deposits are electronicalternatives to the traditional, consumer and business banking processesof writing checks and making deposits using paper forms. These automatedalternatives are well understood and have existed for many years. In thecase of drafts or debits, an account-holder customer of a bank orsimilar financial institution contacts the biller to arrange the debitsor drafts. In the case of debits to a bank account, the account holderprovides the biller with routing and transit information for his or herbank account, or a copy of a voided check. The biller is typically athird party (that is, not the account holder or the bank) to whom theaccount holder makes regular payments, such as for an electric bill, amagazine subscription, a mortgage payment, etc. Once the biller hasreceived the account-holder's authorization to deduct payments from theaccount-holder's account including the bank account information, thebiller automatically debits the account-holder's account as bills becomedue. These debits are often made through the Automated Clearing House(ACH) Network. The ACH Network is a highly reliable and efficientnationwide, batch-oriented electronic funds transfer system forinterbank clearing of electronic payments. The ACH Network is operatedby a conglomeration of entities, including the U.S. Federal Reserve. Itis well known and will not be discussed in additional detail. Manythird-party billers will also arrange automatic debits to a card productsuch as credit or debit card account, in which case, one of the manycard networks is used to process the payment.

Direct deposits are typically made to a bank account, or banking type ofaccount at a financial institution, however, credits applied to a creditaccount are analogous to direct deposits. In most cases, account holderswill arrange a direct deposit for salary received from an employer,although other types of payments, such as insurance payments, orgovernment payments can also be received by direct deposit. In any case,to arrange a direct deposit, the account holder contacts the third-partydirect depositor and provides the appropriate account information, justas in the case of automatic drafts. The direct depositor thenautomatically and electronically transfers the appropriate amount ofmoney into the account-holder's account when payment is due. Directdeposits, like automatic drafts, often make use of the ACH Network.

Historically, banking customers have arranged both automatic drafts anddirect deposits through the use of paper forms. Recently, some businessentities have provided electronic means to arrange these transactions,typically via a secure Web site, or some secure personal computersoftware application. However, even when automatic drafts and/or directdeposits are arranged using electronic means, the arranging of at leastsome of these transactions involves the account holder contacting eachresponsible third party directly in some way. Thus, at least somechanges to these transactions, for example, a change as to whichspecific bank or other account a transaction is to be applied, involvesthe account holder again contacting the responsible third-party billeror direct depositor to arrange the change. A consumer or business thatmakes extensive use of automatic drafts and direct deposits by multiplethird parties can find the task of making such a change daunting, sinceit requires multiple billers and/or direct depositors to be notified.Thus, the size of this task effectively deters some consumers andbusinesses from moving an account to a new financial institution, oreven changing which account is used for such transactions within afinancial institution.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention, by way of example embodiments herein presented,provides for a method and system whereby a financial institution cancollect, process, transmit and confirm authorizations to third partiesfor electronic payments and direct deposits on behalf of itsaccount-holder customer. Through access to centralized authorizationsthrough the financial institution, a customer can be relieved of much ofthe repetitive burden of contacting various third parties to arrange foror make changes to automatic draft payments and direct deposits. Suchrelief can be especially beneficial when a customer who makes extensiveuse of automatic payments and/or direct deposits changes financialinstitutions, or changes accounts within the same financial institution,as may be required if the security of the old account has beencompromised. The benefits of the invention, however, are not limited tothese situations.

In at least some embodiments of the invention, a method of processingaccount-holder requests to authorize third-party transactions for anaccount includes the establishment of a pre-existing list of prospectivethird-party participants. These third-party participants can be directdepositors such as employers, and billers such as utility companies. Thefinancial institution receives account-holder requests to authorizethird-party transactions. Specific requests from among theaccount-holder requests are matched to third-party participants. Atleast one request is forwarded to at least one participant, but multiplerequests can be forwarded to a given participant, either from oneaccount holder or from multiple account holders at the financialinstitution. A request for an automated transaction is forwarded to thethird-party participant on behalf of the account holder, so that theaccount holder does not have to contact the participant entity directly.In at least some embodiments, the financial institution receives aparticipant confirmation from each specific third-party participant, andforwards an account-holder confirmation to the account holder.

Information on third-party participants and account-holder customers canbe stored in data repositories at the financial institution. Thisinformation can include participant profiles or account-holder profilesas the case may be. These profiles can include communication preferencesfor the relevant parties. Communication preferences can include, forexample, whether a participant or an account holder prefers electroniccommunication or paper communication with the financial institution.Specifics can be provided, such as whether the Internet or some otherform of electronic communication is used to handle communication with athird-party participant. Additionally, data on past and pendingaccount-holder requests, confirmations and other events can bemaintained.

In some embodiments, the system of the invention can include variousengines and data repositories that work together to provide the meansfor implementing embodiments of the invention. Some of these can beimplemented manually or using paper-based means. Even in embodimentswhere all of the engines and data repositories are computerized, thecreation and use of paper records as part of the processes disclosed canbe supported.

For example, a system according to some embodiments includes a userinterface to receive account-holder requests to authorize thethird-party transactions. This user interface can make use of theInternet, such as by a secure Web site. At least one engine can beoperatively connected to the user interface to perform sorting, parsing,and matching as needed to handle the requests. A third-party participantinterface can be provided to forward the specific requests to thespecific third-party participants. In some embodiments, the financialinstitution will have an established relationship with the third-partyparticipants, and interactive, electronic communications between theparticipant and the financial institution can be supported. At least onedata repository is connected within the system, and can includethird-party participant profiles, as well as account-holder informationand any other data that needs to be maintained. In some embodiments, afulfillment system provides account-holder confirmation of specificrequests. The fulfillment system can provide these communicationsaccording to stored account-holder preferences, which may includeelectronic or paper-based communications.

In some embodiments, the invention is, at least in part implemented viaa computing platform or a collection of computing platformsinterconnected by one or more networks, such as the Internet, acorporate intranet, and/or some other form of electronic communication.A computer program product or products containing computer programs withvarious instructions can be used to cause the hardware to carry out, atleast in part, the methods of the invention. Software engines can beoperated on servers or workstations. Data repositories are operativelyconnected to the engines. Such data repositories can reside on the sameplatform as some or all of the various software engines or they canreside on a database server connected over a network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to someembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing various system softwareengines, data repositories, and other elements and how they areinterconnected according to some embodiments of the invention. FIG. 2 isbroken into FIGS. 2A and 2B for clarity.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of information contained in aparticipant profile in a data repository according to at least someexample embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a network diagram illustrating the hardware and networkconnections involved in implementing an example embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 4 is broken into FIGS. 4A and 4B for clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described in terms of specific,example embodiments. It is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the example embodiments disclosed. It should also beunderstood that not every feature of the methods and systems describedis necessary to implement the invention as claimed in any particular oneof the appended claims. Various elements and features of variousembodiments are described to fully enable the invention. It should alsobe understood that throughout this disclosure, where a process or methodis shown or described, the steps or sub-processes of the process ormethod may be performed in any order or simultaneously, unless thecontrary is clear from the context, or is expressly stated. Also, thetime that elapses between steps can vary. It should also be understoodthat with respect to flowcharts, block diagrams, and data structures,not every possible signal flow, data path, or structure element isshown. Rather, for clarity, only those important to the inventiveconcepts being discussed may be illustrated, although others may bediscussed in this description.

The meaning of certain terms as used generally in the context of thisdisclosure should be understood as follows. The term “financialinstitution” is used herein in its broadest sense. Financialinstitutions that process transactions of the type discussed can includebanks, credit unions, stock brokerages, credit card companies, loanagencies, and other types of institutions that are not strictly banks inthe historical sense. The use of the term “financial institution” hereinis meant to encompass all such possibilities.

The terms “third party,” “third-party participant,” “participant,” andthe like are in most cases meant to refer to entities to which anaccount holder would pay money upon receiving a bill and/or entitiesthat would make direct deposits to an account-holder's account.Third-party participants can be “direct depositors” and/or “billers.”The term “third party” is used because in the typical case, such anentity is yet a third entity after considering the customeraccount-holder and the financial institution. However, the term is meantto encompass the situation where the “third party” may be the financialinstitution itself acting in another capacity. For example, an accountholder may process a loan payment to the same bank in which the accountresides using the methods and systems according to embodiments of theinvention. Likewise, automated transfers between accounts at a bank canbe considered automatic drafts or direct deposits, depending on thepoint of view. Any of these types of transactions can be considered“third-party transactions.” Such transactions can also include checkcard transactions and in fact, any transaction whereby the authority toperform the transaction can be granted to the third party by the accountholder and thereinafter resides with the third-party debitor ordepositor. Regardless, as used herein, the term “account holder” ismeant to refer to a person, entity, business, etc. who owns or controlsthe account at the financial institution to which these transactionsapply. An account holder can also be referred to as a “customer” of thefinancial institution.

The term “user” and related terms such as “user interface” as usedherein are meant in the broadest sense. An account holder or customer ofa financial institution can be a “user” of a system according toembodiments of the invention, especially where transaction authorizationrequests are submitted from the account-holder's personal computer overthe Internet. As will be discussed below, a “user” can also be anemployee of a financial institution who inputs or manages information ata branch office for a customer. In some cases, a participant may be auser, especially if the participant has interactive access to a systemaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows an example process or method according to the invention, inflowchart form. As is typical with flowchart illustrations, varioussub-processes, elements, or steps are represented by process blocks. Atblock 102 the financial institution establishes a list of prospectivethird-party participants. This can be done in many ways. The financialinstitution may wish to solicit businesses and employers to participatein a commercial service offering, to the advantage of all parties.Alternatively, the list could be comprehensive list established frompublic records, from the financial institution's own records for fromsome other source. The list can be segmented or sorted by geography, zipcode, types of entities, etc. At block 104, the institution receivesaccount-holder request data, which includes requests to set-up,transfer, or maintain direct debit(s) and/or direct deposit(s). Theserequests can be received through an employee user, on behalf of theconsumer, directly from a business or government account-holder, ordirectly from a consumer account-holder, perhaps via the Internet. Aninteractive application can be used to gather the request data. Such anapplication can identify the customer, present a list of potentialaccounts, and present a list of potential participants perhaps based onthe customer account-holder's zip code. A set-up window can be displayedwith information about the third-party participant as well as fields forall the data elements for the request that the participant haspreviously identified. Disclosures pertinent to the participant (from aparticipant profile data repository to be discussed in more detaillater) can be displayed. A record of the request data received can bemade in a database or data repository for future reference.

At block 106 of FIG. 1, the requests are parsed and specific requestsare matched to specific participants. This sorting and routing functionis typically performed by a server or networked computing platform. Atblock 108, specific requests are forwarded to the appropriatethird-party participants. This can be done in such a way to accommodateeach participant's specific communication preferences. It can be done inreal time or in batch mode via computer networks, such as the Internetor some other form of electronic communication, or even be forwarded viaa printed request sent through the postal service or a courier. Once therequests are forwarded, the financial institution waits for confirmationof requests from third-party participants. During this time, which insome cases may be only fractions of seconds, the participant's systemsprocess the request(s). This processing can involve updates to aparticipant's accounts receivable system, accounts payable system orpayroll system to affect the set-up, maintenance or transfer of thedebit(s) and/or direct deposit(s). Such updates can occur in acompletely automated fashion, or be completely or partially effectuatedmanually, in which case, the wait time for confirmation back to thefinancial institution can be significant. In either case, the waiting isrepresented by decision block 110. A specific wait time can be builtinto the system of the invention. If confirmation is not received atblock 110 in this time, a retry process can be initiated and carried outat block 112. Decision block 114 represents branching dependent on theoutcome of retry process 112. If there is still no confirmation from athird-party participant of an account-holder request, error handling canbe undertaken at block 116.

Once confirmation has been received at any of blocks 110, 114, or 116(via some error handling/recover process), database entries inappropriate data repositories are updated in this example at block 118.In example embodiments, once confirmations for an account-holder'srequests are received and logged, the data repository can generate aninformation output to a confirmation production system or customerfulfillment system, at block 120. The fulfillment system in this caseproduces a confirmation to be sent to the account holder at block 122.This confirmation may take many forms, such as, but not limited to,Email, postal mail or even a telephone call made either manually or byan automated telephone dialing system. The form of confirmation can betailored to each account-holder customer based on stated preferences.

FIG. 2 illustrates one, specific example system software architecturethat can be used to implement an example embodiment of the invention.FIG. 2 is broken into FIGS. 2A and 2B for clarity. It cannot beover-emphasized that the architecture of FIG. 2 is an example only.Indeed, there are infinite possibilities as to how a system thatimplements embodiments of the invention can be designed. Front-endinterface(s) 202 receive third-party transactions requests and managecommunication with account holders, financial institution employees,etc. The communications may be with individual customers, businesses,financial institution branch employees who are assisting customers, etc.These entities are represented by communication terminals 204, which maybe personal computers, servers, and the like. Front-end data 206 that isreceived via interface 202 is first processed by the common UI (userinterface) engine, 208. The common UI engine can provide a Web browserbased user interface that will display the appropriate Web pages togather the data necessary to set up accounts with biller and directdepositor participants in order to support the recurring payments anddirect deposits. This interface may be interactive, in that it canprovide for viewing customer profiles and status information. It mayalso provide feedback to verify that the data is entered correctly.

Account-holder profile engine 210 communicates with various databaseswithin the data repositories that are involved in implementing anembodiment of the invention. Engine 210 also manages customer/accountauthentication process 212. The customer/account authentication processverifies that the account holder is who they say they are and that theyhave the authority to authorize third-party transactions. In the casewhere a financial institution employee is assisting an account-holdercustomer, this could be done, at least in part, manually. Account-holderprofile engine 210 also matches a participant with an account-holder'saccount and the request in order to authorize a recurring payment ordirect deposit against that account. The account-holder profile enginecan also provide for modifying third-party transactions andparticipants, such as replacing one with another, or deleting aparticipant and any corresponding transactions. Account-holder profileengine 210, in this example, also maintains the status of therelationship between accounts and participants, and records informationon transaction requests.

Workflow processing engine 214 of FIG. 2 manages the flow of data,including results, between the various communication engines, and commonUI engine 208. In some embodiments, workflow processing engine 214 canattempt to correct any errors through reiterative transmissions withbiller communication engine 220 and direct depositor communicationengine 226 prior to sending results to account-holder confirmationengine 216. Account-holder confirmation engine 216, using the financialsystems data 244, in at least some embodiments, determines the methodand time of day for communicating to the account holder. As previouslydiscussed, this communication can take a form according to theaccount-holder's preferences. In this example embodiment, thiscommunication takes place via the interface, 217, to a customerfulfillment system, which generates confirmation communications toaccount holders.

Biller participant profile engine 218, in example embodiments, adds newbiller participants to the system, deletes existing biller participantsfrom the system, and changes stored information about billerparticipants. It can also be designed to handle queries and return listsof biller participants, for example, by business type or zip code.Biller communications engine 220, in this example, sorts daily billerrequests by biller participant, generates instructions for each accountholder to acquire the proper information for a participant as part of atransaction request, then sends requests to the biller's systems. Theserequests are sent through participant interface 222. The format can beaccording to individual biller communication preferences that can bespecified in a biller's participant profile as will be discussed in moredetail later.

The direct depositor participant profile engine, 224, in this embodimentadds new direct depositor participants to the system, deletes existingdirect depositor participants from the system, and changes storedinformation about direct depositor participants. It can also be designedto handle queries and return lists of direct depositor participants, forexample, by business type or zip code. Direct depositor communicationsengine 226, in this example, sorts daily direct deposit requests bydirect deposit participant, generates instructions for each accountholder to acquire the proper information for a participant as part of atransaction request, then sends requests to the direct depositor'ssystems. These requests are sent through participant interface 222. Thesystem can be designed so that the format is according to individualdirect depositor communication preferences that can be specified in aparticipant's profile. All of the financial institution's systems,engines, data repositories, etc. can be subject to reporting,monitoring, and tracking for or by information technology and managementpersonnel as is known in the art.

A customer fulfillment system in example embodiments of the inventioncan include an Email generation system, 228, and a letter generationsystem, 230, to provide confirmations to account holders. Billerparticipant systems can include a biller request handler, 232. Thebiller request handler can receive files from biller communicationsengine 220, and verify the successful receipt. For each transaction, therequest handler can direct the setup of an auto-debit recurringtransaction with the account-holder's specified account, direct changesto standing transactions, stop an auto-debit, or update accountinformation as needed. The biller request handler can also generate aresponse as to the status of a change request and send the results backto the financial institution. A biller account authentication process,234, provides account authentication services within a biller's systems,for example, to verify that the financial institution's account holderis actually a customer of the biller.

Direct depositor participant systems can include a direct depositorrequest handler, 236. The direct depositor request handler can receivefiles from direct depositor communications engine 226, and verify thesuccessful receipt. For each transaction, the request handler can directthe setup of a recurring direct deposit with the account-holder'sspecified account, direct changes to standing transactions, stop arecurring direct deposit, or update account information as needed. Thedirect depositor request handler can also generate a response as to thestatus of a change request and send the results back to the financialinstitution. A direct depositor account authentication process, 238,provides account authentication services within a direct depositor'ssystems, for example, to verify that the financial institution's accountholder is actually an employee or other proper recipient of funds fromthe direct depositor.

In example embodiments of the invention, a data repository or datarepositories can be organized into individual databases or data storesas needed. In the example of FIG. 2, account-holder profiles database240 contains information about the request including the selectedparticipants, the selected accounts, status, the selected methods ofpayment, etc. for each account-holder customer of the financialinstitution. The account-holder event log, 242, contains a record of allthe activity that has occurred against the account-holder profiles tosupport any questions or issues that may arise. Financial systemsdatabase, 244, contains the demographic information about the accountholder which can be obtained from the account-holder's customer records.

Biller profiles database 246 contains information about billerparticipants. This information can include name, type of company, zipcode, and communication preferences, content data for transactionrequests and returned responses, and similar information. Biller eventlog 248 contains a record of the activity that has occurred against thebiller profiles to support any questions or issues that may arise. Thedaily biller requests database, 250, contains the requests that havebeen generated for processing by the various biller participants. If thesystem is set up for batch processing, these may be accumulatedthroughout the day in preparation for overnight file transmissions tothose participants.

Direct depositor profiles database 252 contains information about directdepositor participants. This information can include name, type ofcompany, zip code, and communication preferences, content data fortransaction requests and returned responses, and similar information.Direct depositor event log 254 contains a record of the activity thathas occurred against the direct depositor profiles to support anyquestions or issues that may arise. The daily direct depositor requestsdatabase, 256, contains the requests that have been generated forprocessing by the various direct depositor participants. If the systemis set up for batch processing, these may be accumulated throughout theday in preparation for overnight file transmissions to thoseparticipants. Again, the organization, architecture, and content of thedata repositories discussed herein represents only an example of howdata repositories supporting an embodiment of the invention can be setup.

As discussed above, the appropriate data repositories in embodiments ofthe invention can contain third-party (biller or direct depositor)information. This information can be stored in the form of a participantprofile, which can provide considerable flexibility in the way thefinancial institution deals with third-party participants. FIG. 3 is aschematic representation of an example participant profile, 300. Theprofile in this example can include participant identification anddemographic information 302, which can include a company identifier, acompany name, address, and telephone numbers, primary and supportcontact information, and a list of zip codes or other types ofgeographies serviced by the company. Content data 304 can includeformatting information regarding both account-holder requests andparticipant responses. Such data can include, but is not limited to, alist of required data elements, a list of optional data elements andformat information. Format information can include, for example,delimiters, and/or (extensible markup language (XML) document formatswith field labels, etc. With respect to participant confirmationresponses, the content data can also include a list of response codes,and data elements associated with each response code.

Communication preferences 306 of FIG. 3 can be included to specifymethods of communication and communication paths to be used with theparticipant. These methods can include batch files sent via the Internetor possibly some other from of electronic communication, Emails withattachments, via a Web site, etc. Disclosure information 308 is wherelegal disclosure which might be required by a participant can be storedfor presentation to an account holder at the appropriate time, which maybe at the time third-party transaction requests are collected from theaccount holder. Finally, scripts 310 can be provided to aid in gatheringappropriate information from account holders.

As previously discussed, the use of stored profiles can allow thecommunication processes between a financial institution, participants,and account holders to be tailored to the preferences of individualparties, assuming appropriate hardware and software systems are inplace. Request information can be written in XML format within acustomer request repository for processing in real time or at the end ofa business day in batch fashion. A participant's preferences in aparticipant profile can specify message transport, such as over HTTPS,TCP/IP with a URL address, IBM System Network Architecture (SNA) over adedicated connection, SOAP (simple object access protocol)/HTTPS overTCP/IP with a URL address, etc.

Real time processing for sending transaction requests to participantscan be accomplished, for example, by Website access or real-timemessaging. In the case of Website access, XML data can be parsed andmerged into a script from the participant profile. The script can thenbe executed. If the script executes successfully, the result can berecorded in the appropriate event log, creating a record in a“processing completed in real-time” file. The record can then be deletedfrom a “process pending in real-time” file. If the script fails, aspecified number of retries can be attempted. If the script still fails,this result can be recorded in the event log, creating a record in a“processing failed in real-time” file for error handling, as previouslydiscussed, which may include manual processing. The record can then bedeleted from a “process pending in real-time” file.

If the type of communication is “real-time messaging” and XML is used,XML data is parsed and put into the message format specified in theparticipant profile.

The message can be sent according to the participant's communicationpreferences. If a confirmation is received from the participant that themessage was received and processed successfully, the result can berecorded in the appropriate event log, creating a record in a“processing completed in real-time” file, and then deleting the recordfrom a “process pending in real-time” file. If a participantcommunicates that the message was received but failed to be processed,that result can be recorded in the event log, creating a record in a“processing failed in real-time” file for error handling and thendeleting the record from a “process pending in real-time” file.

If no confirmation is received from a third-party participant, retriescan be attempted. If no confirmation is forthcoming, this result canagain be recorded in the appropriate event log for error handling (anddeleted from a pending file) as before.

As an example of batch processing of requests, such requests can behandled at the end of the business day. The requests can be stored in alist in a “to be processed at end of day” file and sorted by aparticipant identifier so that all account-holder requests throughoutthe data for a given third-party participant will be together forprocessing. This list can be read, and saved as a record in a “processpending at end of day” file. Again, if XML is used to format this list,the XML data is parsed and put in a record format specified in theparticipant's profile. That record can then be written to a file. A copyof the file can be sent to a participant according to the participant'scommunication preferences. If a confirmation is received that indicatesthe file was received and processed successfully, the result is recordedin an appropriate event log, creating a record in a “process completedat end of day” file. If there are indications of a failure, a record canbe created in a “processing failed at end of day” file, in a fashionsimilar to that described above with reference to real-time processing.Likewise, retries can be attempted if no confirmation is received from aparticipant. For paper or Email transmission of all customer requestsfor a given participant, the process can be similar. In such a case, XMLdata can be merged with a form template to create a report with all theaccount-holder requests for the participant that can be printed orattached to an Email.

FIG. 4 provides a network diagram showing network connections andhardware platforms that can be used to implement example embodiments ofthe invention. FIG. 4 is broken into FIGS. 4A and 4B for clarity. Again,it cannot be overemphasized that FIG. 4 provides an illustrative exampleonly, as many different network configurations can be architected by oneof skill in the art. In the example system of FIG. 4, at least someaspects of the common user interface are provided by Web server 402.Computing platform 404, in this example, a server, provides sorting,parsing, and routing functions, and implements at least some of thesoftware engines, for example, the profile engines, the workflowprocessing engine, the biller communication engine, and the directdepositor communication engine. Computing platform 404 communicates withdata repositories 406 and financial systems 408, wherein financialsystems data and the account-holder authentication process reside.Fulfillment system 410 produces account-holder confirmations via eithera mail processing facility, 412, or an Email system, 414, as previouslydiscussed. Computing facilities (not shown) within the fulfillmentsystem also maintain the account-holder confirmation engine. Becausemany of its functions relate to sorting and routing transactionrequests, computing platform 404 may be referred to herein as asorter/router.

Financial institution branch terminal 416 and terminals at the financialinstitution's call center, 418, can be used to input third-partytransaction authorization requests on behalf of account-holdercustomers. These terminals can be implemented by standard computingplatforms and connected to the common user interface via the Internet ora corporate intranet, 420. In the case of an Internet connection,firewall 422 and the normal access and routing arrangements, 424, can beincluded in the system, as is well-understood in the art. Thesecomponents can be viewed as forming a front-end interface or front-endinfrastructure, 425. In a case where connectivity is provided by acorporate intranet, the corporate intranet may also be considered partof the front-end interface. Also in the case of an Internet connection,it is possible to allow account-holder customers of the financialinstitution to access the system directly via secure Web site ordedicated application, as from their own personal computers, 426 and428. These various access devices can receive account specificinformation from financial systems element 408, which provides existingaccount and financial institution relationship data. The functionalityavailable to users via any of these access methods can be determined bythe user's level of authorization and may be customized in accordancewith the needs of the user and/or their access element, as iswell-understood in the art. Transmissions between the above-discussedhardware elements may be supported by Web, hardwired analog/digitalcommunication links, wireless analog/digital communications links, anycombination thereof, or other means for communicating.

When sorter/router 404 receives transaction request data, which caninclude financial, personal, and depositor/biller specific dataelements) and transaction requests from user interface 402, it logs thereceipt of the data within data repositories 406. Sorter/router 404sorts and transmits the information to the third-party participantinterface, 430. This transmission may be supported by Web, hardwiredanalog/digital communication links, wireless analog/digitalcommunications links, fax, paper, any combination thereof, or othermeans for establishing and operating communications links. As anillustrative example, paper handling facilities 432, and a networkserver, 434 are illustrated in FIG. 4. Participant systems, 440, receivethe transaction request data.

In the case of electronic transmission, network 442 interconnects thethird-party participant interface with participant systems 440. TheInternet can be used, in which case, firewall(s) and access and routinghardware would exist as previously discussed, but these are not shown inFIG. 4 for clarity. Other forms of electronic communication may also beused to provide this network facility. Note that if participants haveinteractive access to the financial institution's systems, theinteractive communications can be routed through the same Internetconnection, and would typically also be managed by a network server,like network server 434. When transaction requests are sent tothird-party participants, sorter/router 404 can log the transmission ofinformation within data repositories 406.

The participant systems, 440, can process the information received inthe transmission via links. Any single participant may have multipletypes of accounts and have multiple relationships with customers of thefinancial institution, and may have internal links to an accountsreceivable system, 449, for debits, and an accounts payable system, 450,and/or a payroll system, 451, both for direct deposits. These systemsupdate to reflect the directive(s) received, and transmit back to theparticipant interface, 430, a confirmation of whether the processing ofeach request was successful and, if so, an applicable date for therequest to become effective. Proxy dates using a logical sequencingmethodology may also be used and can be assigned by either participantinterface 430, or the appropriate participant system, and to theaccounts receivable system 449, the accounts payable system 450, or thepayroll system 451. Proxy dates can also be assigned by sorter/router404. The entity and manor in which dates are assigned can be setaccording to a participant's preference.

Participant interface 430 transmits the confirmation and applicable datefor a request to become effective back to sorter/router 404. Thistransmission can be accomplished with the same communications link usedto send the request from the sorter/router to the interface.Sorter/router 404 logs the received confirmation within datarepositories 406. In at least some embodiments, upon receivingconfirmations to all outstanding transaction requests, the sorter/routercreates a transmission to fulfillment system 410. This transmission maybe supported by Web, hardwired analog/digital communication links,wireless analog/digital communications links, fax, paper, anycombination thereof, or other means for establishing and operatingcommunications links.

As previously discussed, in example embodiments, fulfillment system 410receives the transmission from the data repositories and creates, queuesand produces a confirmation for the account holder impacted by therequested changes. The account-holder confirmation may be delivered viaWeb, Email, hardwired analog/digital communication links, wirelessanalog/digital communications links, fax, paper, postal service, courierservice, telegram, voice response unit (VRU), telephone call, anycombination thereof, or other means preferable to the account holder forcommunicating a confirmation of activity. Creation and delivery of theconfirmation can also be logged within data repositories 406.

User interface 402, as previously discussed, can be accessible in someembodiments via the branch terminal 416 of the financial institution,via terminals within call center 418, or via remote terminals orpersonal computers, 426 and 428. In some embodiments, any and all ofthese access points can be used to review all elements of the status ofthe process throughout the processing of a request and afterward via astatus transaction interface that can interact with sorter/router 404.In such a case, sorter/router 404 queries databases within datarepositories 406 for the needed information then transmits appropriateresponses back through user interface 402 for display. The system canalso be set up so that a user of any of these terminals can logfree-form queries that will be output from sorter/router 404 forresearch activities.

A computer program which implements all or parts of the inventionthrough the use of systems like those illustrated in FIG. 4 can take theform of a computer program product residing on a computer usable orcomputer readable storage medium. One example of such a medium is aremovable storage cartridge, as shown at 460 in FIG. 4. Such a cartridgemight store computer program instructions optically, such as in the caseof a DVD-RAM cartridge, or magnetically, such as in the case of ahigh-capacity diskette type device such as a so-called “ZIP” disk. Acomputer program product containing the program of instructions can besupplied in such a form, and loaded on the machines involved, eitherdirectly, or over a network. Such computer program instructions, alsocommonly referred to as “software” directs the operation of computingplatforms or instruction execution platforms to carry out processes ofembodiments of the invention. The “medium” can also be simply a streamof information being retrieved when the computer program product is“downloaded” through the Internet or an intranet. Computer programs canreside on any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, ortransport the program for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device. The computer usable or computerreadable medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system, ora propagation medium. Note that the computer usable or computer readablemedium can even be paper or another suitable medium on which the programinstructions are printed. In this case, the program could beelectronically captured via optical scanning of the paper or othermedium, then processed in a suitable manner.

Specific embodiments of an invention are described herein. One ofordinary skill in the computing and financial services arts will quicklyrecognize that the invention has other applications in otherenvironments. In fact, many embodiments and implementations arepossible. The following claims are in no way intended to limit the scopeof the invention to specific embodiments described above.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of processingaccount-holder requests to authorize a plurality of recurringthird-party transactions for an account at a financial institution onbehalf of an account holder, the method comprising: providing, at thefinancial institution, a pre-existing list of prospective third-partyparticipants to participate in a commercial service offeringauthorization for recurring third-party transactions with the accountholder, wherein the prospective third-party participants includesolicited businesses and employers, the solicited businesses andemployers not currently enrolled in direct debits or automatic draftsfor the account holder; presenting the pre-existing list of prospectivethird-party participants to the account holder so that the accountholder can select which third-party participants that will participatein the third-party transactions; receiving, by a computer, a selectionof third-party participants in the form of account-holder requests atthe financial institution, to authorize the plurality of recurringthird-party transactions, wherein at least one of the selectedthird-party participants is selected from the pre-existing list;matching, using a computer, at least one specific account-holder requestfrom among the account-holder requests to at least one specificthird-party participant from among the list of prospective third-partyparticipants, wherein the account-holder requests comprise at least onedirect-deposit request; forwarding the at least one specificaccount-holder request to the at least one specific third-partyparticipant on behalf of the account holder; and receiving, at thefinancial institution, at least one participant confirmation from the atleast one specific third-party participant, wherein the at least oneparticipant confirmation comprises a confirmation that the at least onespecific third-party participant's accounting system has been updatedbased on the at least one specific account-holder request; forwarding,from the financial institution, the at least one participantconfirmation of the at least one specific request to the account holder,wherein the forwarding is accomplished in accordance with account-holdercommunication preferences stored in an account-holder profile, whereinthe account-holder profile consists of a company identifier for thethird party participants, a company address for third-partyparticipants, contact information for third-party participants, andformatting information for third-party participant transaction requestsor returned responses; and adding to the account-holder profile the atleast one third-party participant associated with the at least oneparticipant confirmation and thereby authorizing third-party recurringtransactions involving the at least one third-party participant and theaccount-holder.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of theforwarding of the at least one specific request to the at least onespecific, third-party participant and the receiving, at the financialinstitution, the at least one participant confirmation from the at leastone specific third-party participant is accomplished in accordance withparticipant communication preferences stored in a participant profilefor the at least one specific third-party participant, the participantprofile being stored in a data repository comprising participantprofiles associated with the prospective third-party participants. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding, from the financialinstitution, the at least one participant confirmation of the at leastone specific request to the account holder, wherein the forwarding isaccomplished in accordance with account-holder communication preferencesstored in an account-holder profile.
 4. The method of claim 1 whereinthe account-holder requests comprise at least one direct-deposit requestto authorize the at least one specific third-party participant toperiodically direct deposit funds to the account.
 5. The method of claim1 wherein the account-holder requests comprise at least onedirect-deposit request.
 6. The method of claim 2 wherein theaccount-holder requests comprise at least one direct-deposit request. 7.The method of claim 3 wherein the account-holder requests comprise atleast one direct-deposit request.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein theprospective third-party participants further include solicitedbusinesses and employers, the businesses and employers enrolled indirect debits or automatic drafts for the account holder.
 9. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having a computer program embodied therein for enabling afinancial institution to authorize recurring third-party transactionsfor an account on behalf of an account holder, the computer programfurther comprising: instructions for providing, at the financialinstitution, a pre-existing list of prospective third-party participantsto participate in a commercial service offering authorization forrecurring third-party transactions with the account holder, wherein theprospective third-party participants include solicited businesses andemployers, the solicited businesses and employers not currently enrolledin direct debits or automatic drafts for the account holder;instructions for presenting the pre-existing list of prospectivethird-party participants to the account holder to so that the accountholder can select which third-party participants that will participatein the third-party transactions; instructions for receiving a selectionof third-party participants in the form of account-holder requests atthe financial institution, wherein specific account-holder requests fromamong the account-holder requests authorizes specific third-partyparticipants to perform a plurality of the recurring third-partytransactions on behalf of the account holder, wherein at least one ofthe selected third-party participants is selected from the pre-existinglist; instructions for matching the specific account-holder requestsfrom among the account-holder requests to the specific third-partyparticipants from among the list of prospective third-partyparticipants, wherein the account-holder requests comprise at least onedirect-deposit request; instructions for forwarding the specificaccount-holder requests to the specific third-party participants onbehalf of the account holder; and instructions for receiving participantconfirmations from the specific third-party participants; instructionsfor forwarding, from the financial institution, the third-partyparticipant confirmations of the specific request to the account holder,wherein the forwarding is accomplished in accordance with account-holdercommunication preferences stored in an account-holder profile, whereinthe account-holder profile consists of a company identifier for thethird party participants, a company address for third-partyparticipants, contact information for third-party participants, andformatting information for third-party participant transaction requestsor returned responses; and adding to the account-holder profile the atleast one third-party participant associated with the at least oneparticipant confirmation and thereby authorizing third-party recurringtransactions involving the at least one third-party participant and theaccount-holder.
 10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein thecomputer program further comprises instructions for creating aparticipant profile comprising participant communication preferences foreach prospective third-party participant.
 11. The computer programproduct of claim 9 wherein the computer program further comprisesinstructions for creating an account-holder profile comprisingaccount-holder communication preferences for the account holder.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 9 wherein the computer program furthercomprises instructions for creating an account-holder profile comprisingaccount-holder communication preferences for the account holder.
 13. Thecomputer program product of claim 9 wherein the account-holder requestscomprise direct-deposit requests.
 14. The computer program product ofclaim 10 wherein the account-holder requests comprise direct-depositrequests.
 15. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein theaccount-holder requests comprise direct-deposit requests.
 16. Thecomputer program product of claim 12 wherein the account-holder requestscomprise direct-deposit requests.
 17. The computer program product ofclaim 9 wherein the prospective third-party participants further includesolicited businesses and employers, the businesses and employersenrolled in direct debits or automatic drafts for the account holder.18. Apparatus to enable a financial institution to authorize recurringthird-party transactions for an account on behalf of an account holder,the apparatus comprising: a computer processing device executingcomputer-readable instruction code structured to cause the computerprocessing device configured to: provide, at the financial institution,a pre-existing list of prospective third-party participants toparticipate in a commercial service offering authorization for recurringthird-party transactions with the account holder, wherein theprospective third-party participants include solicited businesses andemployers, the solicited businesses and employers not currently enrolledin direct debits or automatic drafts for the account holder; present thepre-existing list of prospective third-party participants to the accountholder so that the account holder can select which third-partyparticipants that will participate in the third-party transactions;receive a selection of third-party participants in the form ofaccount-holder requests at the financial institution, wherein specificaccount-holder requests from among the account-holder requestsauthorizes specific third-party participants to perform a plurality ofthe recurring third-party transactions on behalf of the account holder,wherein at least one of the selected third-party participants isselected from the pre-existing list; match the specific account-holderrequests from among the account-holder requests to the specificthird-party participants from among the list of prospective third-partyparticipants, wherein the account-holder requests comprise at least onedirect-deposit request; forward the specific account-holder requests tothe specific third-party participants on behalf of the account holder;and receive third-party participant confirmations from the specificthird-party participants; forward, from the financial institution, thethird-party participant confirmations of the specific request to theaccount holder, wherein the forwarding is accomplished in accordancewith account-holder communication preferences stored in anaccount-holder profile, wherein the account-holder profile consists of acompany identifier for the third party participants, a company addressfor third-party participants, contact information for third-partyparticipants, and formatting information for third-party participanttransaction requests or returned responses; and add to theaccount-holder profile the at least one third-party participantassociated with the at least one participant confirmation and therebyauthorizing third-party recurring transactions involving the at leastone third-party participant and the account-holder.
 19. The apparatus ofclaim 18 wherein the computer processing device is further configured tocreate a participant profile comprising participant communicationpreferences for each prospective third-party participant.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the account-holder profile comprises anaccount-holder communication preferences for the account holder.
 21. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the account-holder profile comprises athird-party communication preferences for the at least one specificthird-party participant.
 22. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein theprospective third-party participants further include solicitedbusinesses and employers, the businesses and employers enrolled indirect debits or automatic drafts for the account holder.
 23. A systemto enable a financial institution to authorize recurring third-partytransactions for an account on behalf of an account holder, the systemcomprising: a device for providing, at the financial institution, apre-existing list of prospective third-party participants to participatein a commercial service offering authorization for recurring third-partytransactions with the account holder, wherein the prospectivethird-party participants include solicited businesses and employers, thebusinesses and employers not currently enrolled in direct debits orautomatic drafts for the account holder; a processor configured forpresenting the pre-existing list of prospective third-party participantsto the account holder so that the account holder can select whichthird-party participants that will participate in the third-partytransactions; a user interface to receive a selection of third-partyparticipants in the form of account-holder requests, wherein specificaccount-holder requests from among the account-holder requestsauthorizes specific third-party participants to perform a plurality ofthe recurring third-party transactions on behalf of the account holder,wherein at least one of the selected third-party participants isselected from the pre-existing list; at least one computer operativelyconnected to the user interface, the at least one computer to match thespecific account-holder requests from among the account-holder requeststo the specific third-party participants from among the third-partyparticipants, wherein the account-holder requests comprise at least onedirect-deposit request; a third-party participant interface to forwardthe specific account-holder requests to the specific third-partyparticipants, the third-party participant interface operativelyconnected to the at least one computer; at least one data repositoryoperatively connected to the at least one computer, the at least onedate repository further comprising third-party participant profiles; anda fulfillment system to: provide account-holder confirmation of thespecific account-holder requests, by forwarding, from the financialinstitution, the specific third-party participant confirmation of thespecific request to the account holder, wherein the forwarding isaccomplished in accordance with account-holder communication preferencesstored in an account-holder profile, wherein the account-holder profileconsists of a company identifier for the third party participants, acompany address for third-party participants, contact information forthird-party participants, and formatting information for third-partyparticipant transaction requests or returned responses, the fulfillmentsystem operatively connected to the at least one computer; and add tothe account-holder profile the at least one third-party participantassociated with the at least one participant confirmation and therebyauthorizing third-party recurring transactions involving the at leastone third-party participant and the account-holder.
 24. The system ofclaim 23 wherein the third-party participant profiles further compriseparticipant communication preferences for the specific third-partyparticipants.
 25. The system of claim 23 wherein the specificthird-party participants comprise direct depositors.
 26. The system ofclaim 24 wherein the at least one data repository further comprisesaccount-holder profiles, the account-holder profiles further comprisingaccount-holder communication preferences.
 27. The system of claim 26wherein the account-holder communication preferences comprises at leastone of electronic and paper communication preferences.
 28. The system ofclaim 25 wherein the at least one data repository further comprisesaccount-holder profiles, the account-holder profiles further comprisingaccount-holder communication preferences.
 29. The system of claim 28wherein the account-holder communication preferences comprises at leastone of electronic and paper communication preferences.
 30. The system ofclaim 23 wherein the user interface is operable to receive theaccount-holder requests from the account-holder over the Internet. 31.The system of claim 24 wherein the user interface is operable to receivethe account-holder requests from the account holder over the Internet.32. The system of claim 25 wherein the user interface is operable toreceive the account-holder requests from the account holder over theInternet.
 33. The system of claim 23 wherein the prospective third-partyparticipants further include solicited businesses and employers, thebusinesses and employers enrolled in direct debits or automatic draftsfor the account holder.